Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) is a computer bus interface that connects host bus adapters to storage devices such as hard disk drives, optical drives, and/or solid-state drives, among other devices. SATA succeeded the older Parallel ATA (PATA) standard, offering several advantages over the older interface: reduced cable size and cost (seven conductor s instead of 40 or 80), native hot swapping, faster data transfer through higher signaling rates, and more efficient transfer through an (optional) I/O queuing protocol.
SATA host adapters and devices communicate via a high-speed serial cable over two pairs of conductors. In contrast, parallel ATA used a 16-bit wide data bus with many additional support and control signals, all operating at much lower frequency. To ensure backward compatibility with legacy ATA software and applications, SATA uses the same basic ATA and ATAPI command sets as legacy ATA devices. SATA data cables can include seven conductors (three grounds and four active data lines in two pairs) and can connect one motherboard socket to one storage device.